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The barrister instructed by LHD Lawyers, John Rowe, said Zoetis failed to inform horse owners of the potential side effects and have breached the Agricultural and Veterinary Chemicals Act by failing to properly trial and test the vaccine before its release.

"The reality is the vets that administered the vaccination initially didn't give the owners any warning at all," Mr Rowe said.

"Many of the horse owners would not have agreed to the inoculation had they been warned of the possible side effects."

Class action a risk: company

Damages are being sought for any individual horse owner whose horse was effected by the vaccine resulting in death or loss of use.

Michael Hyland, special counsel for LHD Lawyers, says the owners that are part of the class action had suffered significantly.

"It's had a profound impact on the horse owners and it's something they are struggling to come to terms with," Mr Hyland said.

Zoetis has issued a statement saying the vaccine wass "safe and effective" and "no vaccinated horse has contracted the Hendra virus".

The company said it has not been notified of a claim and a class action would put people and animals at risk.

"Attacks on vaccination have the potential to put the lives of vets, the horse owning public and horses at risk," a spokesperson said.

The Hendra virus has killed 103 horses and four people across 60 separate outbreaks in QLD and NSW.

Even before cases of strawberry sabotage crippled sales and cost the industry millions of dollars, Australian growers were despairing over dumping tonnes of perfectly good fruit that was too small or odd-shaped to find a market.